Sunday, June 26, 2005

Angels 5; Dogers 3 & Cubs 2; Sox 0

Didn't see much of the Angels game, but I got back in time to see Vlad single up the middle, and Garret pick up his 999th and 1000th RBIs, pushing the Angels to a two run lead that they wouldn't relinquish. Congratulations, Garret.

Frankie has been very shaky of late, and he didn't get any help from Davanon on the Olmedo Saenz popup that El Jeffe lost in the sun. After putting the tying run on base, Frankie recovered with a ground out to complete the sweep. This puts the Angels 6.5 clear of Texas, who lost to Houston, and gives them double digit leads over Seattle and Oakland. The worst case scenario has the Angels up two and half after their trip to Arlington, and if they stay hot, and Texas stays cold, they could lead by as many as 10.5. That's a nice position to be in.

Another fine day on the mound, with a quality start from Byrd, and solid relief from Donnelly. The pitching staff continues to surprise and impress.

A packed house at Comiskey saw the Cubs beat the White Sox 2-0, a solo home run from Corey Patterson (redundant, I know) providing the Cubs with all they'd need. Garland and Prior were both outstanding, and the infield defenses were excellent, turning numerous double plays.

It was hot. Damn, was it hot. And humid. Seriously, as a west coaster, I just never understood how uncomfortable 88 degrees can be. But the train was nice and air conditioned on the ride home. This was the first Cubs-Sox game I've been to in three years, the last one being on my birthday at Wrigley in 2002. Coincidentally, Garland also started that game, but that was when he sucked. Honestly, I don't remember much of anything from that game, except that the start was delayed by a little rain. We met up at Goose Island for a couple of beers beforehand. Then we never actually took our seats. We stood in the SRO section next to the beer cart and got pretty tanked. That was followed by a trip to Sluggers for a few more beers. Next we headed to my friend's then girlfriend's (now fiancee, and in four weeks, wife) apartment, where I consumed a couple of glasses of wine. After that, we picked up some tapas at Emilio's, where I also downed about a pitcher of Sangria. We figured we hadn't quite had enough, so we headed across the street to one of the bars on Clark Street for another beer. So you can see why the details escape me a bit. None of that today, though. Just a Polish Tailgate* before the game, at which I arrived late, no drinking during the game, and well, that takes us to right about now. Gotta stay sober for that softball game tonight.

**UPDATE**

Not my best game, but we won by the slaughter rule in about a half hour. 0-1 with sac fly, a line out, a walk, and a run scored. I know, I hate guys who walk in softball, but if I don't get anything to hit, I'm not going to swing at bad pitches. I also made one play in left, and, I'll admit, should have made the play on a ball that hit the top of the fence and came back into play. I didn't play the guy deep enough, but the air was heavy and ball wasn't carrying very well. It ended up being a long single, because the runner on first had to hold in case I caught it. I'm guessing he was on the bag thinking of tagging up (which would have been a good decision). Oh well, at least I didn't hold onto the ball looking for somewhere to throw it, before finally chucking it in after giving everyone an extra base or two, then blaming my weak arm on being "flat footed". *Instead of driving, you take the train with a case of beer in tow, stake out a spot, preferably in the shade, and suck it down before heading in to the park.